president obama and this cabinet stood by her. >> mrs. rice is extraordinary. i couldn't be prouder of the job that she has done. [ applause ] >> and joining me now from the white house, nbc news correspondent viqueira. vic, will the gop continue its pile-on of the ambassador? will it have the opposite effect of hardening the president and daring him essentially to select her for secretary of state perhaps? >> well, you know, it's hard to say exactly what is going through the president's mind at this point. a lot of people think that he is really under the gun to make an appointment, but hillary clinton is still the secretary of state. he may have some time yet. perhaps even as much as a month or up to the inauguration on january 20th. so there is that. second of all, susan rice made that pilgrimage, if you will, up to the senate after all the criticism that she got from john mccain and lindsey graham and other key republican senators after her appearance on the sunday shows talking about the incident in benghazi. they were so angry because they say she dissemi